Two pictures of the original Brown Cow in 1933 before everything was demolished and rebuilt.I would guess as the streets were so close together the pub had entrances on each street.Pic 1 is Hope st and pic 2 is Long Close Lane.

I've just been comparing the maps of the area, one from 1852 and one modern. Unless there are inaccuracies, it seems that Long Close Lane (to the south of the pub) was moved southwards.

There is only one substantial building that is between Long Close Lane and Hope Street. I guess that has to be the Brown Cow, but it would seem that the original building was bigger than the current one. Was it partly demolished, or maybe completely rebuilt?

This is a photo screen shot of the old map of the area. I couldn't find a way of nicking the original online:

Here is the url for the old map of York if you want to check for yourself:

Re: the two shots below, the top one is definitely Hope Street, as was, looking west, with a right-hand bend. it now has a left-hand bend that begins by the pub. The bottom one is Long Close Lane, as was, also looking west.

Thanks canaldrifter,what a great map,just to confuse things a bit when you zoom in its shows a pub called Red Cow!.I found in Kelly's directory from 1901 the Brown Cow was 30 Hope street and the landlady was a Mrs C Fawbert.

That leaves me wondering whether there might originally have been two pubs, The Red Cow in Hope Street and The Brown Cow in Long Close Lane. That would explain the two signs. Unfortunately the one in the Hope Street image is not clear enough to read.

Quoting The Yorkshire Gazette of 26/09/1835 he states that the Red Cow was the original name of the Brown Cow.

The entry for the Brown Cow, Hope street is more substantial. He states that it was first mentioned without a name in 1834 as a beer house. In 1835 it was the Red Cow, in 1838 it appears to have had a full licence and was the Brown Cow. There's an 1843 reference to it as the Cow and an 1849 reference as the Dun Cow, and it had entrances in both Hope street and Long Close lane. The 1902 Chief Constables report states that it was a 4 room cottage (2 bedrooms, Smoke room, and Kitchen) with no pantry and that the family kept their food in the cellar. No food was served and the family and customers shared a single WC. The Chief Constable thought it too small for a full licence but stated that it was kept very clean. The 26/05/1903 minutes of the Streets and Buildings committee of York City Council reveal that plans were submitted for a larger pub and this was opened in 1906 (source Electoral Register), which presumably is the pub as we see it now. Finally Hugh Murray reports a Yorkshire Evening Press article from 14/04/1939 which states that the pub was the location of half a darts match. The other half was at the Ark in Maidenhead and the 2 locations were linked by radio [I wonder why not telephone, cost of call I suppose; radio being free once you've bought the equipment].

I have been trying to get a copy of that book for ages,hard to find,thanks for the info,BB

The Barbican bookshop opposite and down a bit from the Blue Bell in Fossgate was always a good place for local York books; unfortunately it closed earlier this year.

The book was published by Voyager Publications, which according to the Pub History Society link below announcing the first edition of this is/was at 20 Grange Garth, Fulford Road, York Y010 4BS. It was printed by J.W. Bullivant and son, 296, Bishopthorpe road, York. Tel.01904 623241. On the other hand, if you've an arm and a leg to spare, try ABEBOOKS or the like online.

There's an 1843 reference to it as the Cow and an 1849 reference as the Dun Cow, and it had entrances in both Hope street and Long Close lane. The 1902 Chief Constables report states that it was a 4 room cottage (2 bedrooms, Smoke room, and Kitchen) with no pantry and that the family kept their food in the cellar. No food was served and the family and customers shared a single WC. The Chief Constable thought it too small for a full licence

I don't think this means that the building had two entrances fronting on either road. A very close look at the map reveals a passageway through the houses in Long Close Lane that led to a yard behind the pub. I reckon it is a sign over that passageway entrance that we can see in the photo.